Archive for category Ferrari

Alonso always Improving

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Fernando Alonso insisted that he is now a better driver as compared to his first stint at Renault. Back during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, he won consecutive titles in the series, after which he moved to McLaren Mercedes. Although he hasn’t managed to add a 3rd world title in his CV, he reckoned that the one year he spent at Woking, as well as the struggling years he experienced at Renault have made him a more complete racer.

As we have already covered the McLaren story, we’ll focus on Alonso’s comments over his second stint at Renault, when he struggled in the mid-to-rear pack through the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

I knew I was only fighting for seventh or eighth but it was important to learn from that. I have no doubt I am a better driver now,” said Alonso in his interview with The Guardian, hinting that he preferred to leave a team in which he could have battled for the world title (at least theoretically) rather than play second fiddle to newcomer Lewis Hamilton.

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Special Wheel Nut From Ferrari

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With refueling being banned for the 2010 season of Formula One, most teams have already started the race for quicker pit stops during the races. With the actual stop including only tire changes (and some minor adjustments to the car or driver, if that will be the case), some teams projected that pit stops will take under 3 seconds this season.

It was actually Williams F1 who did that experiment for the first time, trying to figure out how the race strategies will work this year. Ferrari, however, seem to have moved much quicker in improving the time their driver will spend in the box for tire change, as they allegedly designed a special wheel nut.

According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, cited by the GMM news agency, the Ferrari engineers have designed a “cone-shaped nut that integrates better with the wheel gun.”

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Ferrari 599XX [VIDEO Inside]

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Double Diffuser Issue Once Again

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Ferrari have indeed been quite quick during the first test meeting of the off-season, in Valencia, but that doesn’t mean the Italian technicians won’t pay a great deal of attention to their championship rivals in the upcoming few weeks. In fact, the Scuderia’s technical director Aldo Costa has already raised some issues regarding last year’s controversial double diffuser rules.

According to the Ferrari technical, the aforementioned car part will again be subject to many rule interpretations prior to the start of the 2010 campaign, as all teams have fitted it to their cars differently. Since the FIA rulebook on double diffusers are still very grey, Costa said it will only be a matter of time until a new saga will burst on this topic.

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Best Time of the Week in Valencia

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Fernando Alonso and Ferrari are definitely on fire this Wednesday, as the Spaniard recorded the fastest time of the week on Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit. Of course, we’re not really sure the fuel strategy that the Scuderia decided to run on this week, but the lap times scored by the new Ferrari F10 seem to improve by the day.

Two and a half hours into the 3rd and last day of testing on the Spanish track, the 2-time world champion stunned the audience with a whooping time of 1:11.599. The Spaniard constantly improved his time throughout the duration of the morning session and remained the only one to stop the clock under one minute and 12 seconds.

Second overall was again BMW Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa, who was only 0.094 seconds away from breaking the 1:12.000 mark with his C29.

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Technical Specifications For Ferrari F10

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A couple of hours ago, Ferrari Formula One Team unveiled the first pictures of their 2010 challenger on their official website. This was practically the first team in F1 to show real pictures of their new car to their fans, as Mercedes GP’s launch earlier this week included only their new livery, painted on their 2009 machine.

That being said, Ferrari also disclosed the technical specifications of their new car. While the car obviously benefits from some new aerodynamic cues as compared to its F60 predecessor, the majority of the technical specifications have remained the same.

However, two changes are quite visible. Obviously, due to the refueling ban introduced by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) for the 2010 season, the new Ferrari F10 features a larger fuel tank. Ferrari is yet to reveal the exact dimensions of its new fuel tank, but it’s quite clear it is larger as compared to 2009, as it needs to “accommodate” more fuel during the 2010 races.

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Alonso Ignores Hamilton

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Fernando Alonso refused to spend too much time responding to Lewis Hamilton during the media meetings Ferrari held at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. Earlier this month, his former McLaren teammate bragged in the British media that he “blew Alonso away” in his first year at the Woking squad, something that almost made up for the lost title in 2007.

Obviously, the international media present at the Wrooom event in Italy decided to piggyback on the topic and asked Alonso to comment Ham’s latest interview. The Spaniard refused to do so, however, while also avoiding to point any fingers at McLaren.

“If I have to answer to all that he says I would use up too much time. McLaren, though, are a good team and when I went there it was a nice moment for me,” said the 28-year old driver.

Earlier in the day, during an official interview set up by the Ferrari official site, the Spaniard also pulled off a strategic answer to one of the reporter’s Hamilton-related questions. Asked who he wants to beat the most in 2010 between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, the Spaniard said he prefers to only win the race.
Additionally, he admitted that the best drivers will be in the best cars next season, naming McLaren, Mercedes GP and Red Bull the most important rivals he’ll face in his quest for the world title. However, Alonso admitted it will take some time to get up to speed in 2010, as he’ll only have 7 or 8 days of testing with his brand new car.

“I have only seven or eight days to get used to the new car. There is probably no other sport in which you can only practice seven times before the beginning of a season. Perhaps at the first race I will not be completely familiar with my new environment. But by the third race at the latest, we will see the real Alonso,” added the Spaniard, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

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Flavio Manzoni, The Ferrari’s Chief Designer

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Flavio Manzoni has been appointed Director of Design at Ferrari. The news in not new, as this decision was previously known, but the information is now officially confirmed.

Manzoni will have the task of defining the visual identity of all future Ferrari cars. He will report directly to Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s CEO. (invested in March 2008)

The designer, now 45, has a degree in architecture, with a specialization in industrial design. He began his career in the Fiat Group in 1993, working at the Lancia design center. Starting form 1996 he became responsible of Lancia’s interior design. From 1999 to 2001 he held a similar position at the Seat Design Center in Spain.

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Alonso in Ferrari Wear

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Ferrari presented its 2010 drivers lineup for the first time this year, during the traditional winter pre-season event at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. Of course, the event itself is no news to anyone, as it happens every year in the same place and approximately at the same time. This year, however, it marked the first appearance of Fernando Alonso in Ferrari clothing.

As reported by the Ferrari official site, Alonso came to the event via the helicopter, wearing a “team jacket bearing the prominent signage of the Spanish bank Santander.” Alongside the Spanish driver, Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were also present at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort.

However, neither the Italian nor the Spanish media managed to squeeze a few words out of Alonso during yesterday’s meeting, as the first press conference and slopes action is scheduled for Tuesday. Apart from the Scuderia officials and drivers, about “100 media representatives came to the town in the Italian Dolomites.”

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Threatened to Leave?

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Ferrari once again decided to play hard ball in the Formula One Championship, only if the game is so far played in terms of bellicose declarations. Again, it was the company’s CEO Luca di Montezemolo who publicly asked the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone to make sure the environment within the Great Circle will improve in the upcoming 3 years.

Otherwise, Di Montezemolo revealed his company is considering quitting the sport - as if we haven’t heard that threat before. The argument backing that position are the constant rule changing process within Formula One, making it very difficult for the teams to following a long-term plan in the sport, as well as the arbitrary cost-cutting rules imposed by the FIA.

I want F1 to improve between now and 2012, when we sign a new Concorde Agreement, and if not we will have motivation somewhere else,” Di Montezemolo was quoted as saying to British magazine Autosport during a Christmas event at Maranello.

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